Category Archives: PFIT TIPS
WORKOUTS – EXERCISES – TRAINING TIPS
Let’s get PFIT! It’s time to workout! Get fresh new workouts, training ideas and exercise tips to start, or tweak, your program so you get that bod you’ve been longing for!! Success is just around the corner! Get to know your body and how fitness truly works when you do it right. Each blog offer applicable tips and information to help you reach your goals.
The Scoop About the Polar Loop
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Many of you asked me what I thought about my new Polar Loop and, as promised, here’s my review!
Pretty
Let’s be honest. Some of the activity trackers are not that pretty. The Polar Loop looks nice on and, with the silver accents, looks more like a piece of jewelry than a sports band. Another thing I like about the Polar Loop is that it tells time. I mean, if you are going to wear something in place of your watch, it might as well tell time too right? That is something my last activity tracker didn’t offer, and I really enjoy that simple feature.
Simple
If you are looking for a ton of options and fancy features, this isn’t your band. This activity tractor is super simple and focuses on covering the basics. The band syncs easily with the iPhone via bluetooth, which I love. No special adaptors or cables needed to see your updated activity.
Once you have synced your band with your Polar Loop app, you can view just one screen that shows everything you need to see at one glance.
The circular graphic displays activity from light to dark blue:
WHITE: Sitting or passive behavior
GREY: Medium activity – walking or moderate activity
LIGHT BLUE: Resting or lying down
BLUE: Low activity, standing work or light choirs
DARK BLUE: High activity, jogging, running and intense activity.
Click on the circle and it will display your activity in real time so you can see your movement and rest patterns. That’s my favorite screen, because it doesn’t look as bad as allllll that white and light grey! ha! BUT, it’s good to see the reality of how inactive even an active person like me is!
The Polar Loop gives you goals and displays where you are for the day. You can see here, above (at the top of the screen), that I was 254% of my goal. If you scroll down on this same screen, you will continue to see more information including:
Calories Burned
Steps Taken
Active time
Sleep Time
The Polar Loop shows I received one inactivity alert to remind me to get moving! It also has some motivational words about your activity to make you feel like a super star! …AND, if you need some help getting moving, you can click on the “i” (information) button and it will display ways to reach your goal.
The most exciting thing to me about the Polar Loop is that it’s the only activity band that connects with a heart rate monitor – so this bracelet will track calories burned and activity even more accurately than any other exercise band. This is something I’m still working on how to learn, and use.
I wore it on our LiveXFit show yesterday and I traced my calories burned in one of Steve’s kickboxing classes – where it showed I burned over 500 calories. I LOVE knowing how many calories I’m burning when I exercise!! It makes me love those darn burpees a little bit more! I’ll share more as I learn it. I still have a lot of playing to do!!
Check out this cool video showing all the features!
Technical features:
- Waterproof for swimming
- Custom-fit bracelet
- Time of day
- Display texts in English
- Data transfer via custom USB cable or Bluetooth Smart via Polar Flow mobile app
- Memory capacity 12 days activity data
- Rechargeable battery with 5 days continuous use
- Web service compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6, OS X 10.7, OS X 10.8, or later, and PC Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, or later
- Mobile app compatibility with iOS 6 (iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPod touch) or later
Bottom line, if you really love fitness and tracking calories burned, get the Polar Loop, as well as the chest strap heart rate monitor, for the most accurate calorie and activity tracking around! I’ll share more as I learn more!! Now, I better get ACTIVE!!
Upper Body Partner Workout
If I told you to do 10 push-ups, 10 push-presses and 10 Dips, you probably would go at a comfortable pace. BUT, if I told you to do 10 push-ups, 10 push-presses and 10 Dips while I waited for you in plank position (and I couldn’t rest until you were done), you’d probably be more motivated to pick up the pace so you could give me some relief. This is the idea behind partner workouts like this.
Accountability increases intensity. If I can’t rest until my partner is finished, my partner is a lot more motivated to perform the exercises as quickly as possible. It’s one thing to slack, and punish yourself, but it’s totally a different animal to slack and punish someone else. This is why I do a lot of partner type exercises in BCx Boot Camp because it makes everyone work harder and faster.
The Workout
Here is a quick fun circuit you can do with a partner, to boost intensity and results.
Tools Needed:
Dumbbells, Barbell or Sandbag
Exercises in the Workout:
Click on the links to watch video instruction for each exercise
Push-up
Push-press
Dips or Modified Dips
Plank (hands, not elbows)
No rest between rounds – go straight from exercises to plank, and from plank to exercises. Time yourself to add even more intensity and accountability.
5 Surprising Fitness Tools You May Already Have
You don’t have to have expensive weight equipment to workout. There are many household items you can use for added resistance in a home workout routine. Here are 5 household items that can enhance your fitness program.
1. A Gallon of Water
One gallon of water weighs 8.33lbs. Pick up 2 gallons and you instantly have a set of eight-pound dumbbells. Exercising with two gallons of water not only adds 16lbs to your workout routine, but it also challenges your balance as the weight of the water shifts around with each you movement. Since you can pick up a gallon of water anywhere, getting familiar with working with water gallons can give you more options when on the road or away from the gym.
2. Stair Step
Athletes have used stair steps for cardio and conditioning training for years. Running stadium steps proved to tone the legs and glutes, burn a ton of calories and challenge the heart and lunges like no other exercise. Even if you don’t have a few flights of stairs available, you can do a lot with just a single step. Performing a Step up lunge on one leg, for 15-20 repetitions each, is great for toning the glutes and thighs.Box jumps can be performed on a stair step to increase power production, as well as READ MORE…
Custom Reeboks Give-a-Way and Black Friday $avings
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Win YourReeboks – Custom Shoes Designed by YOU!
Check out the Black Friday Deals, including discounts on Nano 2.0s and BOGO specials!!
…..AAAAND ENTER HERE to WIN a Gift Card to create your very own custom Reebok shoes!!!! Just tell me what your favorite Reebok product is and I will announce the lucky winner Monday!
Here is one of the custom Nano 2.0 shoes I’ve designed.
CLICK HERE to design your own shoes!
KILLER Black Friday Weekend Offers:
Reebok Nano 2.0’s for $75.00 with the promotional code “NANO”
Nano 2.0 Product Information
The next generation Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 is here! You the community have asked for more flexibility and breathability while maintaining stability in your footwear. The same low profile platform balances cushioning and low-to-ground feel so you can stay quick, safe and comfortable through the toughest of WODs.
• Breathable mesh upper for added ventilation
• Low-cut for added mobility, upper designed for lateral support and stability
• DuraGrip print along the toe cap makes it durable for a longer use
• High abrasion rubber outsole for improved durability
• Full length low profile with EVA midsole for cushioning and low-to-ground feel
• Forefoot flex grooves for added flexibility
Buy any apparel item, get a second 50% off. Code: “BOGO”
Runs 7:00pm on Thanksgiving through Sunday, December 1st on www.shop.reebok.com.
Leg & Butt Toning Circuit
You can do this workout with no weight, or with weight. Our boot campers did this workout with sandbags, but it would be great with dumbbells, kettlebells or a weighted bar.
INSTRUCTIONS: Take as little rest as possible (no rest is best for fat burning and toning). Go as deep as you can go on your squats and lunges – the deeper you go, the more inner thigh and glute action you will get, especially on the squats. If you can’t go deep with weight, then lighten your weight or use no weight at all. Use a mirror to watch how low you actually go. If you don’t have knee issues, try to get the same depth as the guy in the photo below – and feel the difference!!
LEG & BUTT CIRCUIT
3-Position Squat
- 10 Close Stance Squat
- 10 regular stance
- 10 Wide stance
60-Second Walking Lunges
60-Second Wall Sits
Repeat circuit with no rest for 3 rounds.
TRAINING TIPS: Notice his hips are BELOW parallel. If you want some serious buns, the deeper you go the better, as long as your knees don’t hurt and your form isn’t compromised. As soon as you feel that your back is bending, or your butt is tucking under (which we call “winking”), you know you’ve gone too deep, or you have range of motion limitations due to weak or tight muscles. The more you practice deep squats, the better your range of motion will be, simply from loosening up your hips, and getting more flexible and strong. 
1 Workout, 3 Exercises, 5 Rounds, 100% Awesome!
This was one of the segments we did on LiveXFit at LiveExercise last week. It doesn’t require a lot of resistance to really get great results either! Here’s the scoop…
Goal: Sculpt the glutes, legs, core and shoulders. The burpees continue to keep the legs warm, while getting the heart rate up and burning more calories.
Tools: You can use a band, pipe, bar, broomstick or whatever you want! I used a bodylastics band and Steve used a broom. At the gym, I use an olympic bar, but you can even use dumbbells (however I prefer using bars or bands to keep the body connected).
The Lower Body Blitz:
- 10 OVERHEAD SQUATS
- 10 OVERHEAD STEPBACK LUNGES
- 10 BURPEES
REPEAT 5 ROUNDS
- OR add 3 round to your existing weight routine.
How-To
Overhead Squat:
Notice arms stay overhead (they don’t drop down in front of the face or body). Go as low as you can go while maintaining a straight back. Push with heels and keep arms locked out overhead during entire movement.
Overhead Stepback Lunges:
If you like this workout, or the sample workout they offer on the site, sign up for a free 2 week trial! they have thousands of different shows to choose from for super cheap if you decide you like it!
Best One-of-a-Kind Christmas Gift for Fitness
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love fashion. I may not always be the most “fashionable”, but I love to “play” with style. Since there are not a lot of accessories you can wear while working out, (I mean, it’s not like you can wear bangle bracelets, chunky necklaces and chandelier earrings), you’re somewhat limited to the actual clothes you have to wear to get your sweat on.
For instance, I have to wear socks, so they might as well be fun! I have to wear tennis shoes, so they might as well be colorful. I often have to put my hair up in a ponytail, so why not wear pigtails with matching rubber bands? Why not, right?
I wear workout clothes for a living. After years of wearing black and grey, I was super excited about all the pretty color that entered into the fitness world. Then I discovered cute tennis shoes that didn’t look like bulky tennis shoes. Slowly, but surely, I started wearing more tennis shoes with everyday clothing – because shoes were so much cuter than ever before. Since I have so many flashy colored Reeboks, I was ready to get a more neutral pair for every day use – in or out of the gym. I have have very little that matches grey, and NOTHING that matches blue, so I thought I’d try designing my next pair of shoes! Here are some of my custom Nano 2.0s (my favorite in and out of the gym tenny!). Now I’m just trying to figure out which one to buy – OR should I try a new color combo?
Which one do you like best?
Pink & Grey Skulls
Grey & Green Tape
Patriotic Skulls
Girly Blue Camo
Blue and Red Tape
Navy Nanos (you can even customize the text on the shoe!)
Here is a pair Steve designed earlier this year!
15 Different Styles – Endless Colors, Patterns, Fabrics, & Options
At Home Leg and Butt Workout
I was stuck working at home all day yesterday in front of a computer for 10 hours straight. When I finally got done for the day, it was after 5:00pm and, although I was dressed and ready for the gym, I really just wanted to get my workout done at home.
So, I dug through some of my workouts and pulled out a couple of circuits I could do on my living room floor that required no equipment. This was the workout I did – and I’ll be honest. It KILLED ME! I took no rest at all except a quick rest to get water between the 2 circuits. Give it a try and let me know how you like it! Oh, and get a towel because by round 2 I was already dripping!!
The Bomb: Lower Body Circuit
20 Alternating Forward Lunges
20 Squats
10 Burpees
1-Minute Jump Rope
20 Alternating Step Back Lung
20 Jax
10 Burpees
1-Minute Wall-Sits (sit against the wall with legs at a 90 degree angle)
REPEAT 3 TIMES
Record your time at the end of the third round!
Matching Video:
Butt Workout
RIGHT
20 Squats
20 Right Lunges
20 Right Stomps
20 Right Leg Cook Hip Lifts
LEFT
20 Squats
20 Left Lunges
20 Left Stomps
20 Left Leg Cook Hip Lifts
REPEAT 2 TIMES (4 total)
Matching Graphic:
WORKOUT: Box Jump Full-Body Blitz
Grab a plyo box, bench or aerobics step and get ready to get your heart pumping! This is a great workout to put with an upper body strength program, like chest day, or you can even add it to a light cardio day to boost calorie burn and intensity.
Do the whole workout or break it up however you like. Do one or two rounds between each circuit of exercises or do one round each time you change exercises. There is no wrong way to add a BCx Blitz to a workout.
To make it even easier, here are 2 different examples of how you can add a simple routine like this to your existing program.
Conditioning Chest Workout:
4 Sets of Bench Press
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
4 Sets of Incline Press
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
4 Sets of Pec Deck or Incline Flies
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
Fat Burning Cardio Workout:
10 Minutes of Cardio
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
10 Minutes of Cardio
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
10 Minutes of Cardio
2 Rounds of Box Jump Blitz
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
No Pain, No Gain?
PAIN: noun \ˈpān\ 1. Something that hurts the body. 2. Mental or emotional suffering: sadness.
We’ve all heard the saying “no pain, no gain”, but what is pain really – and do you really have to experience pain to get the gain?
Personally, I think pain depends on the person. When Steve was trainer ABC’s weight loss reality show, Fat March, some of the contestants thought they were having heart attacks when their heart rate increased. They had never experienced cardio before and it was painful to them. Many of them had lived their lives as comfortable as they could – to the point of putting a refrigerator in their bedroom so they didn’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen for a coke. However, if you’ve ever done an intense workout, you know what it feels like to tax your body. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Is it bad for you? No. Does it feel good? Not to me! Does it feel good afterwards? Absolutely!
When this mantra was posted on Detour Bar’s facebook page, someone wrote: “if you’re working out to the point where it’s either painful or you experience post-workout exhaustion… well, you’re doing it wrong and you’re not eating right… this isn’t motivational, it’s just plain dumb.”
The Pain that Drives You
Emotional Pain
First, let’s talk about emotional pain. Pain isn’t always a muscle burning, heart pounding, or a joint aching. Sometimes pain is the feeling you have when you struggle to fit in your plane seat. It can be the painful realization you are no longer fitting in your clothes. It could be the bad report you get from your doctor, as he tells you your unhealthy lifestyle is going to kill you if you don’t do something about it. Pain can be the looks people give you, or the rejection you have received. Pain could be the shortness of breath you get from just going up one flight of stairs. Pain can be loneliness, depression, heaviness or despair that is driving you to get healthy.
Just getting to the gym can be a pain, the painstaking effort it takes to just get to the gym – to pack your gym bag after a really long day and keep showing up, even though you are too tired, too stressed or too busy. It could be the embarrassment and wake-up call you get when you are the last to finish a workout, and you realize just how out of shape you are. It could be the flighting moment of doubt or defeat in yourself – when you realize “this” is not going be easy, BUT you know if you stick with it, it will be worth it. All of these definitions of pain can drive you, if you choose. Or you can latch on to them, and let them define you.
Physical Pain
Now, let’s talk about physical pain. Does it take literal pain to get ahead? The answer is: that depends how you define pain. My workouts are painful – not the bad kind of pain, but the good kind of pain. Some people may disagree. Some people may do the exact same workout and enjoy the muscle burn. To me, I’d define that as pain. My workouts can be unCOMFORTable, but that’s because I’m pushing my body. I have spurts of breathing so hard, it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes my muscles are burning so much, they feel like they are going to burst into flames. Even my runs can be a bit painful, especially if I run after leg day. Do my workouts hurt? Yes. Are they hurting my body? No. BUT, if I worked in my comfort zone (always trying to stay comfortable), I would never get stronger, never get faster, never get better.
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
Muhammad Ali
Even if the workout is easy and relatively comfortable during the workout, sometimes you experience pain after the workout. Sore muscles, fatigue, or normal wear and tear on a 42 year old body can be uncomfortable too. Sure, I could quit and say this is for the birds, but am I really going to let a little bit of discomfort stop me? Nope! Why? Because I focus on the reward more than the work. And you know what? The more I train, the more the definition of pain changes.
Now, pain is the feeling I get when I overeat or neglect my body. Living unhealthy would be very painful to me. If I didn’t workout. I would just trade good pain for bad pains. Instead of sore muscles, I’d have sore joints and ailments due to weak and tight muscles. I’d have painful feelings, insecurities and stress due to letting my body go.
As we age, everyone will experience pain at one point or other. You decide what kind of pain you want to experience – destructive pain, or constructive pain. You can let past painful moments drive you to improve. You can let the pain you may experience during a challenging workout remind you that you are changing.
Whatever your definition of “pain” is, let it drive you, not beat you.
